Howdens kitchen pricing

[swillows]

Been lurking on here for ages and picked up loads of useful info for the new kitchen! But I was hoping someone could enlighten me....

We are having our Edwardian terrace extended and knocked through at the back to give a large kitchen with seating area at the patio end. Kitchen will be galley style down two walls probably 18ft each side. We had 3 builders give us quotes for the building work etc and they ALL said 'allow £5k for a Howdens kitchen'. The builder we eventually settled on does not have a Howdens account but we thought by then we had a good idea of cost.

We went to Howdens and had a design drawn up - this was actually incomplete as we could not decide what to do around the boiler so they left that corner 'blank'. When the quote came through it was £9k!!! For standard units and laminate worktops including a breakfast bar. We were staggered.

Subsequently we went to Wickes who drew up a fab design, sorted out the 'boiler corner' issue and came out at £8k for solid wood units and worktops and said they'd throw in an integrated washing machine too!! This was when they were having their 50% off sale. We didn't go with them as they didn't actually have units that we liked.

We then went to Benchmarx, threw the Wickes design at them and said 'copy that'. They did and also came up with their own suggestions and we've ended up with what looks like a great design. For their Turin Cashmere units plus solid oak worktops they have come in at just under £8k.

So Wickes AND Benchmarx have come in cheaper than Howdens. A colleague recently had a Howdens kitchen and got all units, appliances AND flooring from them for £8k!! I am wondering if this is because she had a builder who does a lot of business with Howdens - do they give greater discounts for loyalty? Our builder opened a new account with them so we could get our design done so he has never done any business through them. I just find it frustrating that the 3 other builders all said £5k and it is way above that. It threw our budgeting out quite a bit....

Howdens left a voicemail for me today asking what is happening with the kitchen so I am planning on going back to them to say 'you're far more expensive than we expected'. Any other experiences welcomed gladly....

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Hello, this thread is a little old and some of the links may be out of date. There was lots of discussion around Howden’s pricing and it appears users were getting different quotes depending on the area they lived. As alternatives, users recommended IKEA kitchens and DIY Kitchens. If you are still interested in Howdens you can check them out here. MNHQ.

This is why we have an IKEA kitchen - Howdens drove me bezerk with their total refusal to give any kind of transparent pricing. Also, their kitchens aren't all that IMO. We got a far better kitchen (bigger range of drawers, interiors etc) from IKEA, a 25 year guarentee and the price in the catalog is the price you pay.

Watching this with interest as we've had Wickes and Howdens round recently and can't get a figure out of Howdens.

Having read this I don't think I'll bother with them. The kitchen looks pretty cheap anyway.

We have account with howdens and get 75% discount.
Kitchen like that should easily be between 3-5k.

Don't buy appliances from howdens though.
Despite the discount we get we can still buy them usually for a quarter of their price through AO or John Lewis.

Ps - despite the company I work for having such an amazing discount with howdens I still didn't choose them for our new kitchen.
My parents had a howdens one installed by their builders 2 years ago and is now looking quite shabby.

It is true that builders have good discounts with Howden's, but eventually the quality of the units, and more importantly the skills of the fitting team counts when having to live with YOUR kitchen for years. On the price / quality issue has anyone used the supplier and manufacturer DIY Kitchens based in Pontefract ?

Hi to wowfudge. How did you find the experience with DIY Kitchens ?

I second and third the opinions of IKEA. We have it in our kitchen, my brother had one in his kitchen and there is one in the house we are buying at the moment. The 25 year guarantee is fantastic. They replaced all the door fronts when we had a problem a couple of years ago. We actually changed to a different coloured door so they replaced the plinths and deco strips as well. The price you see is the price you pay and the design help you get is great.

We are going for Wren Kitchens. Not heard great stuff about them on here but so far the customer service has been amazing. We have our designers personal mobile number who we can call at any time. He even answers on his day off! It wasn't 60% cheaper than Magnet like they advertise though but we knocked the price down from their quote.

Sophie let me know how you get on. Two sets of friends have used Wren and had no issues at all and their kitchens look great. We have a quote and their designer was great! The bad reviews on here and elsewhere on t'interweb are making us think twice about placing the order though.

What does everyone think of Wickes kitchens.
We've looked at quite a few companies mentioned above but liked the wickes kitchen and the sales person seemed knowledgeable.

Howdens have two catalogues with two different prices. One for Joe Public and one with much cheaper prices for Trade. Which is why your builder will try to get you to go for Howdens. They'll show you the Joe Public catalogue but buy at the Trade discount thus making a few £k profit without you even knowing.

We are just about to order from diy kitchens having been to both Howdens and Wren. Wren were extortionate and Howdens shot themselves in the foot by telling us that all of the kitchen units sold in places like ikea, b&q, Wren, Magnet etc were essentially the same, so we thought we'd go where we get the cheapest price if they're all the same anyway. Plus I cannot be doing with the lack of transparency.

Please take a look at DIY kitchens..... totally transparent pricing (you add all items to basket yourself), really good quality, happy to make bespoke items very cheaply, can have any colour you want (send in paint to match) for same price, uk made...... and our quote was nearly half the price of the one we had from howdens benxhmarx for much better qualitY .... solid wood doors instead of coated.
And extras like soft close, high sided drawers etc reasonable.

Purchased a kitchen from Neil Norton Design in wimbledon park late last year. They only do bespoke, so the price is slightly more than the aforementioned, but was DEFINITELY worth it. Check them out on Houzz or www. neilnortondesign.com

I really don't understand why Howdens do this. It definitely puts me off even considering using them.

All trade places are like this - from B&Q Tradepoint to Howden's, Magnet Trade, plumber's merchants, etc. They don't deal with the general public and they give discounts to the tradespeople who have accounts with them. It's then up to the tradesperson whether they pass the discount on to their customer or pocket the difference as profit. I find the likes of Magnet worse - claiming they are giving huge discounts off their list prices but overpriced to start with.

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1 CLC5115 Clerk Gls Cream 400 Pre-fit Standard Soft Close 4 Dwr 130.75 F
Base White Cab
1 HYH8177 400mm Silver Cutlery Tray - Standard 7.75
1 CLC520C Clerk Gls Cream 350 CC Hi-Line Base White Cab 91.00 F
1 CLC5251 Clerk Gls Cream 800 CC Hi-Line Base White Cab 137.00 F
1 CLC5411 Clerk Gls Cream 400 CC Full Height Wall White Cab 73.50 F
1 CLC543B Clerk Gls Cream 700 CC Full Height Wall White Cab 111.50 F
1 CLC5451 Clerk Gls Cream 1000 CC Full Height Wall White Cab 128.75 F
1 CLC5472 Clerk Gls Cream 631 CC L Shaped Cnr Wall White Cab 213.75 F
1 CLC5546 Clerk Gls Cream 1000 CC Pre-Fit Hi-Line Full Ext Cnr 399.00 F
Storage RH White Cab
1 CLC5556 Clerk Gls Cream 800 CC Pre-Fit Hi-Line Full Ext Cnr 369.00 F
Storage RH White Cab
1 CLC5600 Clerk Gls Cream 600 Built Under Oven Housing Base White 70.50 F
Cab
4 CLC591A Clerk Gls Cream 30mm Cornice/Pelmet Square Profile 2.4m 149.00 F
2 CLC5920 Clerk Gls Cream Continuous Plinth 2.75m 59.50 F
3 CLC5933 Clerk Gls Cream 910 Base Decor End 131.25 F
6 CLC5944 Clerk Gls Cream 752 Full Height Wall Decor End 228.00 F
2 WKP1560 Black Mir Chip Sq Edge 3m 616 38 W/Top 388.80 F
2 WOR9014 Black jointing compound 17.36
1 WKP7696 Black MC W/top 1.4M Edging Strip 11.61
6 GIR0020 Worktop Connecting Bolt 5.52
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1 SNK2101 Lamona Black Standard Composite 1.0 Bowl Sink and Waste 119.25
1 PLU1000 Plumbing Kit for 1.0 Bowl Sinks with 1 x Appliance Trap 15.00
1 TAP3630 Lamona Black and Chrome Swan Neck Monobloc Tap 99.00
1 HJA2480 Lamona 60cm S/S Std Chimney Extractor 79.00
1 HJA2908 Carbon filters for HJA2480 & LAM2401 15.00
2 WKP7692 Blk M/Chip 3m Upstand 68.38 P
1 ZZD39 Delivery 100.00
Only products marked F (FSC) or P (PEFC) above
are certified as follows: : :
FSC Mix 70%, SA-COC-001813
70% PEFC Certified, SA-PEFC/COC-001813
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Total Goods 3219.17
VAT 643.83
Estimate Total 3863.00
All prices are in GBP

is this a fair price
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Hi OhIfIMust, I am renovating my kitchen now and as you said Howdens price was double Magnet' trade price for my 7units gally kitchen.
I love granite worktop and I have been searching for cheapest option available, could you tell me from where did you get yours and how much roughly will cost for less than 5 meters long. Thanks

Hi Kumarana!

This is very reasonable as Howdens have just quoted me £10k for the same kitchen!?!?

Will you tell me which branch you went to?

Thanks!!

I second DIY kitchens - transparent, great customer service and really good value. Especially easy if you have a quote/list of what you need from other kitchen companies.

Having building work done, and needed to pick out a kitchen from Howdens as my builder has an account with them. They then sent me an invoice with the cost, VAT included. My builder said he would collect the kitchen, fit it and pay for it on my behalf, and it will be included in his next invoice to me. The next invoice from him had VAT added to the full amount. This seemed to me that I was paying VAT twice, first on Howdens invoice, then my builders. I queried it with builder, and he says he pays Howdens for all the materials he buys initially without VAT, then pays the VAT later!! I understand I would need to pay VAT on his labor costs, but this all sounds very convoluted. Anyone experienced this?

I dint know why people struggle with howdens pricing. It's trade only, it's not just open to the public to buy stuff. That's why you don't get a price.

YOU get a price from your builder, your builder gets their price from howdens. Even though you think you're buying from howdens you're actually buying from your builder.

There are signs clagged all over howdens saying this.

The VAT is added after.

I really like Ikea kitchens and have a couple of friends who are very happy with theirs; led to believe that builders hate them though because they're constructed without much space at the back for pipe work etc?

We had a Howdens kitchen in our old place and got it via a deal that a local builder had on (supply and install for a set price). The kitchen we were thrilled with but the builder was a total bloody cowboy 🙄

May I hire him for my kitchen?

gamerchick - I think most of us get it, we just don't like the lack of transparency about pricing. It's not the "get it from the builder" part of it that's the problem, but the fact that ridiculously high quotes are given, then discounted using some kind of labyrinthine process. It adds another level of uncertainty and stress when you're already dealing with a complex build. I've been designing my own kitchen and it's been really important to be able to look at the price implications of small adjustments, which is made really complicated with this system.